Russia seems to be doing a wonderful job of presenting the Sochi Winter Olympics but the stated price tag (assuming it is the actual total) of $50 billion is shockingly too high.

Perhaps the financial report from China (again not fully disclosed) after the Beijing Olympics of 2008 of $40 billion gave assurance that there is no ceiling to the costs of staging the festival for the world’s finest amateur athletes. Who knows how much higher Rio’s Olympics will be in 2016?

Apart from the vulgarity of the costs is the reality that in the future, smaller cities, smaller regions will be forced to withdraw their proposals for staging future Olympics, recognizing that they cannot in good conscience compete on the current scale with wealthier countries. No matter how you view it, the trend does not bode well for the health of international (amateur) sports. What a shame.

Vilma Pallette

Santa Clara

Affordable Care Act will help young people, too

Discussion about “the young invincibles” who reportedly are not signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act usually implies that they don’t really have much need for it. On the contrary, young people have their own typical medical issues and need access to care as much as the rest of the population.

All young women need access to gynecological care, and many have various menstrual problems that benefit from consultation and treatment. With most of this age group being sexually active, issues for both men and women include a multitude of sexually transmitted diseases, and matters of birth control, along with bladder infections in women.

Those active in sports or involved in fitness activities are likely to need occasional medical treatment for injuries. Others have weight-control issues and eating disorders. Acne may need a doctor’s intervention.

Also, this age is when serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder become diagnosable. And, many other young people are vulnerable to depression, anxiety disorders and substance abuse problems.

More information about the medical needs and issues of this population might help spur sign-ups for the ACA insurance before they become more serious or send them running to the emergency room.

Nancy Brown

Campbell

False economy of moving to the exurbs

Perhaps an article on the hidden cost of commuting should be written to fully inform people of the high cost of commuting, as a parallel to Pete Carey’s article (Page 1A, Feb. 9) of the high cost of housing.

A family realizing that they can save $350 dollars/month by driving 50 miles has not factored the true cost. Start with the IRS allowable 55.5 cents a mile, as being a reasonable estimate of the cost of running an auto, this figure allegedly includes gas, maintenance, and amortization, of running your auto. Simple math; 100 miles a day, five days a week equals $277.50 or, $1,156.25 a month (a 50-week year). That adds $800 per month, not a savings.

It doesn’t end with auto cost. You have tripled your carbon foot print, eliminated the time necessary for personal and family time.

The exurb that you moved to also suffers from the loss of your participation in a long list of extracurricular, civic, and social activities.

Rob Mendiola

San Juan Bautista

Critic doesn’t know much about economics

Richard Yanda (Letters, Feb 13) purports to criticize columnist E.J. Dionne’s knowledge of economics (Opinion, Feb. 12). But Yanda betrays his own deep ignorance of economics and U.S. history with a fantasy-laden assessment of the Great Depression and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s policies during that time. Although he tries to shield his ignorance by invoking Milton Friedman, Yanda’s views have been thoroughly debunked by mainstream economists and historians.

Raul Martinez

Sunnyvale

San Jose’s problem is too many people

Regarding the current problems with parking and traffic in downtown San Jose, the problem is simple — too many people.

We need to stop building and ruining downtown and the surrounding areas of San Jose. Have you tried to drive around the Cambrian area lately? Some of us have lived in single-family homes for 50 years, having raised our children here. We used to live in a nice, quiet county area. Now, we have four lanes in front of our house and can hardly back out of driveway.

In closed door talks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein agreed to a major new water policy for California that sells out the Delta and guts Endangered Species Act protections. Sen. Barbara Boxer is fighting the good fight to remove the rider from her comprehensive water infrastructure bill, but it may take a presidential veto.